Bethel's Core Values

Bethel's Value System

Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson is the pastor of Bethel church, son of Bill Johnson, and brother to Brian Johnson. Eric’s grandparents were the pastors of Bethel church. The Johnson’s have been investing in Bethel Church and the city of Redding California for many years. 

How Eric describes Bethel church:

• Imagine a stranger comes to your house at breakfast and says they are starving. You feed them and they leave. You go about your day and come dinner time, another knock at the door from an unexpected stranger who is starving. You invite that person in and feed them and they leave.  

• This is how Bethel is, in the midst of the rhythm of everyday church life there are people from around the world who come to eat and learn and grow in our house. We are honored to feed people from all over the world and send them back to where they came from full of life. 

• We must take care of the local church as well as the nations that come and go. 

Core Values of Bethel (Four Loves)

1. Love for the fullness of God and his presence

• Bringing the kingdom wherever we go. 

• Seek first the kingdom of God and all will be added to you.

• Sometimes we know the truth about God that we have yet to experience it in your own life. Before you were saved you were outside of the kingdom of God. When you became saved you were thrust into the Kingdom of God. There is no end to God or his Kingdom. To know the kingdom you have to interact and explore what you see. When you see something in the kingdom you can have it. It is an invitation to learn about what you see, be it prophetic gifting, healing, etc… When we approach something in the kingdom and feel like we fail, keep going after it.  

1. Love for people and building a vibrant family

• We love people at Bethel, we value them before they create value for themselves. 

• A key to the community is to do life and take risks together. People make messes, people are broken when they come to us. 

• What do we do when people make a mess? Healthy confrontation and ask people to clean up their messes, which means making right what they did wrong.

1. love for finding God in all of life.

• Everything in our lives has the potential to be a ministry to the king.

• There is a Hebrew word, Aboda, worship means to work hard and to serve well. Our lives are worship. Even the mundane day to day actions are worship unto the Lord.  

• We worship Him with what we do with our hands. 

1. love for our city, cities, and nations.

• We love our city, The Church must go outside of the four walls. 

• God is consumed with helping people and rebuilding cities, like the story of Nehemiah

• Nehemiah Chap 1:4. He wept when he heard his city had been destroyed. 

• When things in your city affect you, it takes away the "us vs. them" mentality. 

• If you are criticizing our city and leaders you are not helping. 

• Let’s rebuild our cities out of compassion. 

• We are partnering with our city as opposed to invading.

These are resources that contain our core values that pertain to the local church, the school of ministry as well as the global reach that Bethel has.

bssm.net

ibethel.org